FOOTBALL

Previewing No. 8 Notre Dame's home opener Saturday vs. Toledo

Michael Wanbaugh
ND Insider

SOUTH BEND — After escaping a resilient Florida State team in overtime Sunday, 41-38, in steamy Tallahassee, Notre Dame looks to regroup Saturday against Toledo in the first ever meeting between the two programs.

IRISH ITEMS

♦ Sunday's 41-38 win at Florida State was Notre Dame's first overtime victory on the road in program history. The Irish were 0-3 previously since OT implementation in 1996. Those loses were at Texas (2016), at Michigan State (2010) and at USC (1996).

♦ Notre Dame quarterback Jack Coan threw for 366 yards and four touchdowns in his Irish debut. It was the most yards ever for an ND quarterback in a season opener and tied for the most TD passes in an opener with Jimmy Clausen (2009) and Powlus (1994).

Sep 5, 2021; Tallahassee, Florida, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback Jack Coan (17) runs with the ball during the second quarter against the Florida State Seminoles at Doak S. Campbell Stadium.

♦ Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly is 10-1 in home openers and has won nine in a row dating back to a loss to South Florida in his second season. It's the longest home-opening winning stretch since Ara Parseghian won 10 in a row from 1964-73.

♦ The Irish have won 24 consecutive games at Notre Dame Stadium and 33 straight against unranked opponents. 

Four military jets perform a flyover before the Notre Dame-Navy football game Saturday, Nov. 16, 2019, at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend. The school will return to full capacity Sept. 11 for the first time since the 2019 season.

♦ Saturday will be the first meeting between Notre Dame and Toledo of the Mid-American Conference.

♦ Toledo scored two touchdowns on special teams in its season-opening win last week over Norfolk State. Both those TDs were off blocked punts. The Rockets also recovered a fumbled kickoff.

♦ Notre Dame is ranked No. 7 in the USA/Today coaches' poll and No. 8 by AP. The unranked Rockets are 9-17 all time against Top 25 teams, its last win coming in 2015 against No. 24 Temple in the Boca Raton Bowl.

Notre Dame vs. Toledo pregame coverage

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Michael Carmody during Notre Dame football practice Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2021 at the Irish Athletics Center in South Bend.

► Toledo at Notre Dame: Four players to watch

► Finding Foskey: Unpredictable vyper alignment adds wrinkle to Notre Dame's defense

Isaiah Foskey, right, has a knack for chasing down quarterbacks, like Georgia Tech's Jeff Sims last season. But Notre Dame's starting vyper has added more linebacker duties to his defensive end role.

► Chat Transcript: Talking fixable vs. unfixable, being a Coanhead, Notre Dame's next step

Two-deep depth charts

TOLEDO

OFFENSE

Left tackle

68 Mitchell Berg | 6-6, 310 | Jr.

70 Michael Bergen | 6-4, 280 | Soph.

Left guard

78 Vitaliy Gurman | 6-4, 307 | Sr.

71 Vinny Sciury 6-3, 292 | Fr.

Center

72 Bryce Harris | 6-3, 295 | Sr.

63 Parker Bisek | 6-3, 290 | Soph.

Right guard

60 Tyler Long | 6-4, 290 | Soph.

(OR) 65 Luke Doerger | 6-2, 292 | Sr.

Right tackle 

73 Nick Rosi | 6-4, 290 | Soph.

(OR) 74 Lavel Dumont | 6-4, 315 | Soph.

Tight end

89 Drew Rosi | 6-4, 240 | Sr.

(OR) 9 Jamal Turner | 6-6, 255 | Jr.

Quarterback

2 Carter Bradley | 6-3, 210 | Soph.

7 Dequan Finn | 6-2, 198 | Soph.

Running back

Toledo running back Bryant Koback has rushed for 2,678 yards and 32 touchdowns in his career with the Rockets, who visit Notre Dame on Saturday.

22 Bryant Koback | 6-0, 205 | Jr.

21 Jacquez Stuart | 5-9, 170 | Soph.

Z wide receiver

5 Bryce Mitchell | 6-3, 207 | Sr.

(OR) 14 Isaiah Winstead | 6-3, 210 | Jr.

X wide receiver

4 Danzel McKinley-Lewis | 5-11, 190 | Sr.

(OR) 19 Jerjuan Newton | 5-11, 186 | Soph.

M wide receiver

8 Devin Maddox | 5-9, 175 | Soph.

17 Demeer Blankumsee | 5-10, 180 | Fr.

DEFENSE

Outside linebacker

91 Jamal Hines | 6-3, 250 | Jr.

85 Adrian Woliver | 6-2, 250 | Soph.

Defensive tackle

95 Judge Culpepper | 6-4, 290 | Soph.

96 David Hood | 6-1, 280 | Sr.

Defensive tackle

99 Desjaun Johnson | 6-3, 255 | Jr.

98 Darius Alexander | 6-4, 320 | Soph.

Outside linebacker

56 Terrance Talyor | 6-3, 235 | Jr.

48 Nate Givhan | 6-4, 240 | Jr.

Weakside linebacker

2 Dyontae Johnson | 6-2, 230 | Jr.

35 AJ Crider | 6-1, 227 | Jr.

Linebacker

30 Jonathan Jones | 5-11, 225 | Sr.

42 Jackson Barrow | 6-0, 220 | Soph.

Nickleback

20 Saeed Holt | 6-0, 195 | Jr.

0 Samuel Womack | 5-10, 185 | Sr.

Cornerback

27 Quinyon Mitchell | 6-0, 197 | Fr.

13 Chris McDonald | 5-10, 185 | Soph.

Strong safety

6 Nate Bauer | 6-0, 195 | Soph.

25 Maxen Hook | 6-0, 210 | Fr.

Free safety 

7 Zachary Ford | 6-3, 203 | Soph.

23 Troy Simon | 6-0, 190 | Jr.

Cornerback

0 Samuel Womack | 5-10, 185 | Sr.

21 Justin Clark | 5-11, 180 | Jr.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Place kicker

17 Thomas Cluckey | 6-1, 195 | Soph.

(OR) 29 Evan Davis | 5-9, 180 | Soph.

Punter

49 Bailey Flint | 6-4, 215 | Sr.

17 Thomas Cluckey | 6-1, 195 | Soph.

Holder

49 Bailey Flint | 6-4, 215 | Sr.

Long snapper

58 Sean Mills | 6-2, 220 | Sr.

Kick returner

21 Jacquez Stuart | 5-9, 170 | Soph.

4 Danzel McKinley-Lewis | 5-11, 190 | Sr.

Punt returner

8 Devin Maddox | 5-9, 175 | Soph.

10 Adam Beale | 5-8, 165 | Soph.

NOTRE DAME

OFFENSE

Quarterback

17 Jack Coan | 6-3, 223 | Graduate 

10 Drew Pyne | 6-0, 200 | Sophomore 

Running back

23 Kyren Williams | 5-9, 199 | Junior 

25 Chris Tyree | 5-10, 190 | Sophomore

Field receiver

0 Braden Lenzy | 5-11, 182 | Senior 

21 Lorenzo Styles Jr.| 6-1, 195 | Freshman

Slot receiver 

3 Avery Davis | 5-11, 202 | Graduate 

13 Lawrence Keys III | 5-10, 176 | Senior 

Boundary receiver

4 Kevin Austin Jr. | 6-2, 215 | Senior 

5 Joe Wilkins Jr. | 6-2, 195 | Senior 

Tight end

87 Michael Mayer | 6-5, 251 | Sophomore 

85 George Takacs | 6-6, 247 | Senior

Left tackle

68 Michael Carmody | 6-6, 290 | Sophomore 

79 Tosh Baker | 6-8, 307 | Sophomore

Left guard

52 Zeke Correll | 6-3, 295 | Junior 

50 Rocco Spindler | 6-5, 300 | Freshman 

Center

55 Jarrett Patterson | 6-5, 307 | Senior 

73 Andrew Kristofic | 6-5, 295 | Junior 

Right guard 

62 Cain Madden | 6-3, 310 | Graduate 

56 John Dirksen | 6-5, 306 | Senior 

Right tackle

75 Josh Lugg | 6-7, 305 | Graduate  

79 Tosh Baker | 6-8, 307 | Sophomore

DEFENSE

Vyper defensive end

7 Isaiah Foskey | 6-5, 260 | Junior 

9 Justin Ademilola | 6-2, 255 | Senior 

Defensive tackle

57 Jayson Ademilola | 6-3, 280 | Senior 

99 Rylie Mills | 6-5, 283 | Sophomore 

Nose guard

41 Kurt Hinish | 6-2, 300 | Graduate 

56 Howard Cross III | 6-1; 275 | Junior  

Big defensive end

95 Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa | 6-3, 268 | Graduate

31 NaNa Osafo-Mensah | 6-3, 250 | Junior 

Mike linebacker

40 Drew White | 6-0, 228 | Graduate 

52 Bo Bauer | 6-3, 233 | Senior 

Will linebacker

Irish linebacker JD Bertrand runs a drill during football practice Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021, at Notre Dame Stadium.

27 JD Bertrand | 6-1, 230 | Junior 

32 Prince Kollie | 6-1, 222 | Freshman

Rover linebacker

10 Isaiah Pryor | 6-2, 217 | Graduate

(OR) 24 Jack Kiser | 6-2, 224 | Junior

Boundary cornerback  

5 Cam Hart | 6-3, 205 | Junior 

11 Ramon Henderson | 6-1, 190 | Sophomore  

Field cornerback

6 Clarence Lewis | 6-0, 193 | Sophomore 

28 TaRiq Bracy | 5-10, 177 | Senior 

Free safety 

14 Kyle Hamilton; 6-4, 220; Junior 

2 DJ Brown | 6-0, 200 | Senior 

Strong safety

3 Houston Griffith | 6-0, 202 | Senior 

2 DJ Brown | 6-0, 200 | Senior 

Nickelback

28 TaRiq Bracy | 5-10, 177 | Senior 

16 KJ Wallace | 5-10, 185 |Junior 

SPECIAL TEAMS

Place-kicker

39 Jonathan Doerer | 6-3, 197 | Graduate 

91 Josh Bryan | 6-0, 183 | Freshman

Punter

19 Jay Bramblett | 6-2, 197 | Junior 

39 Jonathan Doerer | 6-3, 197 | Graduate 

Long snapper 

65 Michael Vinson | 6-2, 230 | Senior 

44 Alex Peitsch | 6-1, 210 | Sophomore 

Holder

19 Jay Bramblett | 6-2, 197 | Junior 

30 Jake Rittman | 6-3, 210 | Senior

Kickoffs

39 Jonathan Doerer | 6-3, 197 | Graduate 

91 Josh Bryan | 6-0, 183 | Freshman

Kick returner

25 Chris Tyree | 5-10, 190 | Sophomore 

29 Matt Salerno; 6-1, 199 | Senior 

Punt returner

23 Kyren Williams | 5-9, 199 | Junior

(OR) 29 Matt Salerno | 6-1, 199 | Senior